“7 Grandmasters” and “36 Deadly Styles”
by Joseph Perry
New York City’s The Old School Kung Fu Fest delivers the jumps and jolts this month with both online and in-person options (details below). Focusing this year on 1970s titles from Joseph Kuo and his Hong Hwa International Films production company, the festival features showdowns and throwdowns in nine exciting features. Following are capsule reviews of two films in the fest that have received great-looking new 2K restorations.
7 Grandmasters
Shang-Kuan Cheng (Jack Long) is all set to retire as the best kung fu practitioner in his region, complete with official banner, when some rapscallion delivers a note claiming that he is not the best. Shang-Kuan Cheng then goes on a quest across the land with his four finest students, and they are followed by Hsia Hsiao-Ying (Yi Min-Li), who starts off as an annoyance but eventually becomes a fifth student. When Shang-Kuan Cheng was a student, his master entrusted him with a pamphlet detailing the Paie Mei Twelve Strikes, the pages about three of which were stolen by a masked man. Intrigue galore comes into play when Hsia Hsiao-Ying is deceived into believing that someone close to him murdered his parents, and the missing three strikes come into play. Long gets a fine showcase here to display his martial arts prowess, and the third act offers some fun surprises.
Directed by: Joseph Kuo
Written by: Joseph Kuo and Da-Wei Kuo
Produced by: Hong Hwa Motion Picture Company
Genre: Action, comedy, drama
Starring: Jack Long, Yi Min-Li
Runtime: 89 minutes
Rated: unrated
Country of origin: Taiwan
Release Date: 1977